UPS Expands China-Europe Rail Service with LCL Option

The latest expansion plans from UPS will see a Less-Than-Container Load (LCL) option added for China-to-Europe rail shipments to improve the balance of speed and cost

UPS has announced it has added a Less-than-Container Load (LCL) option for its China-to-Europe rail shipments. The service is available from Zhengzhou to Hamburg and has become part of the UPS Preferred® multimodal freight services portfolio.

In the past 10 years, China and the European Union have been considered the largest global trade partners with trade growth valued at more than US$600 billion in 2014, and this figure is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2020.

UPS’s expansion of its rail product portfolio in China reflects the company’s commitment to infrastructure developments along the Silk Road Economic Belt. This expansion coincides with the transformation of China’s

manufacturing industry from a low-cost and high-volume model to a more innovative, quality-focused and customer-centric approach.

“China’s manufacturing transformation, which UPS refers to as Made in China 2.0, is driving our customers’ need for multimodal transportation options,” said Jeff McCorstin, President of Freight Forwarding, Asia Pacific, UPS.

“The UPS Preferred® LCL rail service will help our customers manage costs and optimise the time-in-transit needs of their customers, especially for smaller shipment sizes.”

Similarly, in June 2014, UPS established a Full Container Load (FCL) solution for China-to-Europe. Customers who have taken advantage of this FCL rail service have experienced cost savings of up to 65 percent versus air freight and time savings of nearly 40 percent compared to traditional FCL ocean service on the same routes. In addition to providing faster and more economical options to customers, these rail options also are a much more environmentally friendly alternative to air and ocean freight, consuming less energy and producing lower carbon emissions.

Full Container Load solutions are offered from Chengdu to Lodz, Poland, and from Zhengzhou to Hamburg, Germany. Combining the rail movement with origin/destination trucking networks enables UPS to provide service to customers throughout China and Europe.

The weekly door-to-door service is supported by UPS tracking technology that delivers full visibility and real-time updates regarding shipment progress via both UPS.com tracking and the use of GPS technology. It also includes security measures and temperature-control options.